'Not a 10' tweet: Cautionary tale of how brands' messages can go wrong
It hasn鈥檛 been a good week for brands and government agencies trying to seem young and hip on Twitter.
Just days after Microsoft pulled its Tay chatbot for spewing out a stream of racist and anti-Semitic messages, the US State Department on Wednesday over a tweet that made reference to rating travelers鈥� physical attractiveness.
The State Department鈥檚 Bureau of Consular Affairs often sends out travel tips and advisories for Americans going abroad. But on Wednesday, one tweet read:
鈥淣ot a 鈥�10鈥� in the US? Then not a 10 overseas. Beware of being lured into buying expensive drinks or worse 鈥� being robbed. #springbreakingbadly.鈥�
(It has since been deleted).
But the department鈥檚 attempt at humor quickly drew a backlash, with many users on the social network deeming the tweet sexist and leading to a .
But the Bureau of Consular Affairs at first responded with a second attempt at the same theme that also prompted derision, this time referencing drug smuggling.
鈥淪omebody offered you a free trip abroad, but the free luggage they offered is lined with cocaine. Beware of these scams #springbreakingbadly,鈥� the .
The incident mirrored a similar series of responses by the Oxford English Dictionary鈥檚 Twitter account, which had initially mocked a user鈥檚 concern that the dictionary鈥檚 example sentence for the word 鈥渞abid鈥� which used the phrase 鈥渞abid feminist.鈥�
An official from the publisher later apologized for the response. The phrase 鈥渨as in that the controversial and impolitic nature of the example distracted from the dictionary鈥檚 aim of describing and clarifying meaning,鈥� wrote Katherine Connor-Martin, head of content creation at the publisher, in a blog post.
Presidential candidate Donald Trump鈥檚 frequent use of Twitter 鈥� including a series of messages he has retweeted 鈥� have also drawn similar controversy and questions about whether some of his comments are misogynistic and racist.
The tone of many of his tweets has also inspired an MIT computer scientist to create a parody account, @DeepDrumpf, manned by a computer that has 鈥渓earned鈥� to tweet in Mr. Trump鈥檚 style through a training process. Some have also speculated that he doesn鈥檛 write many of his own tweets.
By Wednesday evening, the State Department鈥檚 account had 聽and attempted to .
The balance between communicating in a way that engages a broad group of users online and avoiding missteps can be tricky, some say.
鈥淲hen you try to be extra effective on social media and nab people鈥檚 attention, you can sometimes cross the line,鈥� Gabe Saglie, the senior editor of Travelzoo, .
鈥淚t鈥檚 a reminder for travel companies and government agencies," he added, "you have to be aware of your audience before you send a message."
